Rumor: Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro to Reunite for THE COMEDIAN?

Let’s keep this one in the rumor mill for now, but it’s possible that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro could reunite for The Comedian. Showbiz411 reports that producer Art Linson co-wrote a script with comedian Jeffrey Ross about an insult comic who’s described as a cross between Don Rickles and Joan River. According to Showbiz411, Linson would like Scorsese to direct. I bet he would. I bet producers the world over would like Scorsese to direct their movie as well. If the project were to move forward (and that’s a big “If”), it would draw an obvious comparison to Scorsese and De Niro’s 1982 film The King of Comedy, even though the characters sound very different.

The reason this all sounds slightly dubious (or at least incredibly hopeful on the part of Linson) is that Scorsese has a wealth of other projects he could choose. Hit the jump for a refresher of what Scorsese is circling as his follow up to this year’s Hugo Cabret, which is the director’s first family film and his first 3D film.

At the moment, it’s looking like Scorsese’s next film will be his long-in-development adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence, which is about Jesuit priests facing persecution in 17th century Japan. It’s a project that holds personal significance for Scorsese since he was planning on becoming a Jesuit priest before he decided to be a filmmaker instead.

Furthermore, Scorsese has also been linked to a Frank Sinatra biopic as well as the real-life hitman drama The Irishman. Guess which actor has been linked to both films? If you guessed RobertDe Niro, give yourself a round of applause. I’m not exactly sure where the fascination of Scorsese and De Niro reteaming comes from. My best guess is that De Niro has never been better than when he worked with Scorsese. De Niro hasn’t been in a Scorsese film since 1995’s Casino and perhaps the public wants to see another great leading performance from the actor instead of another Meet the Parents films or other crap like Righteous Kill.

There’s also the recently-announced remake of The Five Obstructions which will pit Scorsese against director Lars Von Trier.

Only Scorsese knows what he’ll do next, but I seriously doubt it will be The Comedian.

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